Sunday Times Food Weekly Editor Hilary Biller said: “This year we received far fewer entries than last year, but the judges agreed the quality was so much better.” She said that the judges looked for the “nitty-gritty” of the cookbooks and that the top six finalists’ recipes were put to the test by The Good Food Studio.

The judges who had the enviable task of selecting the best recipes in South Africa were Nompumelelo Mqwebu, head chef at Africa Meets Europe Cuisine; Siphokazi Mdlankomo, MasterChef SA 2014 runner-up whose cookbook The Little Black Recipe Book (Metz Press) is due out in January; Stephen Billingham, president of the South African Chefs Association; Food Weekly editor Hilary Biller and Fresh Living magazine editor Justine Drake.

Biller said that modern cookbooks have a theme and a message and, most importantly, focuses on a healthy lifestyle.

Comedian Anne Hirsch entertained the guests at The Good Food Studio and grilled the guest of honour, MasterChef Austalia winner Brent Owens, about his favourite ingredients (beetroot and aniseed), celebrity chefs (Gordon Ramsay) and worst near-fatal accident in the kitchen (it involved a pressure cooker).

Before the winners were announced Owens delivered sage advice, which Hirsch interpreted as “beetroot to yourself”.

The winner of the inaugural Sunday Times Food Weekly Cookbook Awards, Daisy Jones, took to the stage and extended a warm thank you to everyone who’s made the cookbook awards possible. “Thank you for honouring our work,” she said to all the organisers.

Jones, who is the author of the award-winning Star Fish (Quivertree), said: “A cookbook is about beauty and ideas.”